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Published: October 23rd 2018
1st Day : Marrakech - High Atlas - Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah - Ouarzazate - Roses Valley - Dadés Valley
2nd Day : Dadés Valley - Todra Gorges - Merzouga Dunes - Camel ride and night in the berber tent.
3rd Day : Merzouga Desert - Tisardmin Oasis - Khamlia Village - Erg Chebbi
4th Day : Merzouga Desert - Ziz Valley - Cedar forests and monkey troupes of Azrou - Ifrane - Fes
Our trip from Marrakech started at 8 am. The next 4 days was planned with a company thru the High Atlas Mountains, thru the Sahara, and ending In Fes
Our driver Younes was fantastic he knew all the inns and outs of this journey and spoke all Arabic English Spanish and French.
He was a Berber and a native of Merzouga
Every place every landscape every Kasbah every Qisir we saw was special
The Camel trek thru the Sahara our camp perched in a valley between two sand dunes the sunset the sunrise in the desert they were all breathtaking and the crowning glory of our MxvAcvvhrn. trip
We ended up sleeping outside our tent under the stars the air was dry
and cool
To us it was the experience of a lifetime.
There is something about the Sahara that is spiritual
The wind that shifts the reddish sand stands for so many allegories of life
Ever changing ever moving
It is hard to believe that this vast land was once under water. Apparently at any point if you dig about 9 meters you can hit water.
The berbers of the desert have such keen sense of temperature wind sun they navigate thru the sinking sands at all hours with such grace slowly step by step.
The camel, this graceful creature still remains an important navigator of the desert, Patient methodical and very graceful.
The journey between the High Atlas Mountains and the desert, along the valleys, is riddled with Kasbahs and Qisirs like bird houses with thick adobe walks. The area is called the path of the Thousand Kasbahs.
They are all picturesque and beautiful.
The one we visited is the one registered by UNESCO
called Ait Ben Haddou. A must see if ever in the area. Located on a hill and s good climb thru the cool narrow alleys only to end up in a large overlook with spectacular views.
The adobe architecture is effective and blends with the environment like a cameleon.
We visited rge village Khamilia, inhabited by Sudanese Moroccans. We met with a few musicians who performed the Genoa music in this desert community center.
The music is intoxicating.
Please research it and listen to it.
Drum and string music. One couldn’t help but move with the best.
Along the way our driver stopped at the side of the road for me to carry a desert fox “Ghishir” as it is called. The fox was being cared for by s village boy.
Apostantly when they feel weak the go to the nearby villages. There the children care for them and bring them back to health and release them back to the desert.
An interesting co-habitation
The journey to Fes was long but it goes thru so many landscapes ; from sandy desert to rocky desert thru the rich soiled valleys and Palm Groves thru the Mid Atlas Mountains and the Pine Forest of Ifrane to at last Fes. A very hilly city but rich in history art and culture.
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